More Talk Of Possible Controller Shortage…
On Tuesday, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told a Congressional panel that the maximum retirement age of 56 for air traffic controllers might need to be raised, to help deal with an unprecedented avalanche of retirements. More than 7,000 controllers, almost half the workforce, are expected to leave in the next nine years, as the cohort of workers hired in the early 1980s — after President Ronald Reagan fired more than 12,000 striking controllers — reaches retirement age. “At Congress’s request,” Blakey told the House Aviation Subcommittee, “we are preparing regulations that would permit a controller, under certain conditions, to remain in the workforce beyond the mandatory separation age of 56.” The FAA currently employs over 20,000 employees who manage the air traffic control system. Approximately 15,272 of these employees are air traffic specialists responsible for controlling the takeoff, landing and ground movement of planes.
